Artificial Intelligence (AI) has always been wrapped in a veil of mystery, looked upon in pure awe or fear. Regardless of how much we all want flying cars, we also vividly remember the plot of the Terminator movies. However, whether we think the future of AI will be bright or bleak, it’s already here, and it’s promising to be a 5-star rated one.

AI technology is already playing such a big part in our day-to-day life. So much so that, during the worst case of pandemic a world has seen in the last century, AI technology was what kept many businesses afloat, changing their services, products, and strategies forever. It also gave those companies a considerable boost in revenue and led to cost reductions, making AI technology and implementation one of the leading business strategies in 2023.

There are thousands of surveys, case studies, and reports on the future of AI in the business world. From global to local reports, predictions, and industry-specific details, AI technology has been the ”talk of the town”. After all, the data and numbers never lie, and AI has proven to give magical business growth percentages every business owner would want.

‍

‍

Most Important AI Business Statistics

• By 2027 the global AI market value is expected to reach more than $260 billion.
• AI could contribute more than $15 trillion by 2030 to the worldwide economy.
• As much as 37% of all businesses and companies have integrated AI into their processes.
• 9/10 of leading global firms investing in AI technologies.
• While AI will eliminate 85 million jobs by 2025, it will also create 97 million new ones.
• Today we have more than 3 billion voice assistants in use, but next year we’ll have 8 billion.
• By 2025, the AI industry will be earning around $126 billion annually.
• more than 67% of US citizens believe self-driving cars are safer.
• 25 countries worldwide are currently designing self-driving vehicles.
• The autonomous car industry could be worth more than $600 billion in the next five years.

Artificial Intelligence Business Usage

Companies worldwide use AI technology to automate some parts of the work or help their employees achieve better results. However, looking at AI across all industries, we notice that while some have everything to gain through AI, many sectors are still dipping their toes into AI and how it can be used to its fullest capacity.

• By 2030 AI will help boost the GDP of many local economies. China is expected to be the leading one with a gain of 26%.
• Startups that used AI received more than $7.4 billion in funding during the second quarter in 2019.
• According to Gartner’s 2020 report, more than 37% of businesses used AI technology in their workplace in 2019.
• There was $57.6 billion of spending on AI and cognitive systems in 2021 globally.
• From 2015 to 2019, the number of companies that implemented AI in business grew by 270%.
• 38% of healthcare providers use AI technology for diagnosis assistants.
• 52% of all telephone companies employ chatbots (AI technology).
• The public opinion about AI technology is turning positive, and now, more than 50% of consumers are agreeable with AI.
• More than two-thirds of consumers are agreeable with AI helping boost customer engagement.
• 26% of all consumers interact with AI on a daily basis.
• The Wearable AI market size is predicted to grow to $180 billion by 2025.
• One-third of commerce consumers prefer to interact with AI.
• More than 52% of consumers are doubtful about AI protecting their private information.
• 4/10 consumers trust that companies using AI are more careful about customer data.
• Netflix’s AI recommendation engine is worth $1 billion a year.

How Do Businesses Adopt Artificial Intelligence?

According to Forbes, 4 out of 5 companies are putting AI as top priority business strategy for their organizations. A staggering 83% of companies claim AI strategies they implemented are the reason behind their growth and success.. One of the most common ways companies use AI is through chatbots and automated emails, simplifying everyday business communication and saving time, and those are just some of the many benefits of AI implementation.

33% of organizations have started implementing AI technology in some capacity, while 25% have fully developed AI-enabled processes. As much as 21% of all companies already have a few strategies and concepts and are looking to scale, but only 14% have had concepts with limited success. A small percentage of organizations, 7%, don’t use AI but are interested and currently looking for a way AI can help increase their revenue and overall boost their organization’s success.

Analytics Insight reports that 80% of retail executives will adopt AI at some level by 2025. The majority of the executives say that in the next three years, their company will be using AI.

How To Leverage Data, Cloud, and Analytics in Business?

According to the PwC report, most companies that work with AI reported promising proof of concepts that are ready to scale. But some companies use AI in a more advanced way and are achieving incredible results like significant ROI.

What those companies are doing right is using data and AI not to solve only one problem but adopting AI for business transformation, enhancing decision-making, and modernizing systems and processes. According to the report, the holistic approach to AI implementation in business had the best results.

The holistic approach enables fast AI success, and leaders should be looking to invest in and manage data, AI, and the cloud as a whole. A Holy Trinity of AI, if you will, but taking on this approach will deliver more value at scale because it means data from inside and outside the organization is being analyzed constantly.

The Value of AI in Business

More than 44% of organization leaders think real AI value is realized in automation, increasing productivity. Next, as much as 41% of all leaders think AI solutions improve decision-making, while 40% of all executives believe AI helped them improve customer experience. Finally, products and services innovation values of AI were also one of the significant points for 40% of CEO and leaders.

Decision-Making with AI solutions

Business leaders know just how vital decision-making is, but how does AI help exactly? To make an informed decision, you’ll need a lot of information, do some fact-checking, calculate the risks, and do a prediction analysis. AI technology can simply analyze and process a lot more data than any human being.

For example, suppose you want to optimize pricing. In that case, AI can analyze historical data on margins, supplier costs, product sales, and customer satisfaction and then estimate possible solutions and scenarios. It can show you how your competitors may change their prices, make an analysis with the predictions of future economic events and enable better decision-making. And with the combination of edge computing AI can make that analysis and give you solutions at lightning speed.

More than 74% of leaders said AI is used to make technology decisions within their organization, and 62% said it is used for operations and maintenance. In comparison, 61% of leaders claim AI is used to boost customer experience.

How Can Companies Implement AI?

Start From The Back

Don’t start with data if you’re considering adopting a new AI model for your business. Instead, go backward and think about the outcome you want, then look for the data to back up your goals. Next, you need to consider other decision-makers using this model in the same way, where the model will fit in the decision-making process, cloud integration, monitoring, scaling, improvement, and finally, a retirement plan for the model. Make sure to learn more about the latest Data & AI trends and how they can help you navigate the change to a new business model.

Leave the Data to AI

Many companies have tons of messy, unstructured data, whether it’s documents, images, or videos. Just tell your AI what kind of data you need to achieve the desired result, and it will sort through all the mess before placing only the most vital data in front of the company’s decision-makers.

Focus First, Scale Later

Having a holistic approach to AI business implementation doesn’t mean you have to do everything simultaneously. Instead, start from the essential functions you want to simplify or automate within your organization, then scale up to other and more complex tasks.

AI Simulations in 2023

If there’s one thing all survey respondents (as much as 96%) agree on is their plan to use AI simulations in 2023. A compelling feature, AI simulation can provide detailed, real-time insight into a company’s real-time performance.

Just imagine creating a simulation of all suppliers, customers, competitors, weather, economics, and whatever variable you need and be able to predict supply chain pricing flow, both dynamics and disruptions. Now, you can plan a navigation strategy by knowing what will happen.

57% of leaders from the survey plan to use AI simulations for market conditions forecast, while 54% will use AI simulations to support financial, sales, and marketing planning.

AI simulations can also help hire and train employees, with almost two-fifths of surveyed companies already doing so. In addition, AI-powered simulations give room for better virtual recruiting, finding candidates worldwide, and managing and monitoring remote workers.

AI Labor Market Solutions

Labor market challenges are present in any industry, but 98% of companies believe AI can help overcome these challenges. In addition, many companies put great hopes in AI by automating their processes or reducing their hiring needs.

However, AI has its own labor market challenge: a lack of AI talent and a high cost of the existing AI talent. However, holistic AI companies know that AI initiatives increase revenue and are not paying much attention to the lack of AI talent. They know it’s money well-spent. As a result, those companies are 1.5 times more likely to leverage third-party vendors like managed services providers with a complete AI workforce.

Find Your Data & AI Talent in Quantox!

Quantox Technology Data & AI experts can help you adopt and leverage artificial intelligence and optimize many different work processes within your organization, by completing essential data gathering and analysis that can help streamline your operations and enhance your business’s profitability. Let’s Talk

‍

Although AI technology is not new, it’s beginning to have a significant impact as businesses realize the potential and the possibilities new Data & AI trends offer. With AI today, companies can transform and create new opportunities in almost every industry.

“If you want to think of a new thing, the new thing that is going to be most attractive is going to be something that you can do with scaled AI,” said Whit Andrews, vice president, and an analyst at Gartner Research. However, not many know that behind the magic of scaled AI is a significant amount of data being processed and labeled. Therefore, it’s imperative that companies realize their data needs to be in order before they see what scaled AI is capable of.

Now, in 2022, we’ve seen AI trends emerging, promising scalability to any business, regardless of size, type or industry and those trends are going to be even more popular in 2023. So what are those AI technology trends, and how can they impact companies and their digital transformation efforts? Let’s find out!

#1 Large Language Models

Language Models are AI models that rely on machine learning to, in simple terms, learn how to speak our language. These models determine how sentences, phrases, or even paragraphs are related by processing a considerable amount of text and building a model. That model understands how we, as humans, use language and copies our semantic techniques to output a more human-like interaction.

AI language models have come a long way from being fine-tuned by us. Today, your AI can learn and solve a new problem in only a few training examples. In the business world, this means that the cost of artificial intelligence is now reduced, and it’s easier and more affordable to automate many business processes.

#2 Natural Language Processing

Not only is AI able to copy our way of communicating, but it’s also able to understand what we are saying. NLP or natural language processing is the “ability for a computer to understand the meaning of text or speech.” Do the names Siri, Alexa, and Cortana sound familiar? That’s precisely what NLP does- it creates technologies that can understand what people say and then make appropriate actions and give the right responses. Now just think about all the ways one company’s internal NLP-based AI can assist all employees and scale business operations.

Not only is AI able to copy our way of communicating, but it’s also able to understand what we are

#3 Generative Artificial Intelligence

We can consider Generative AI to be a whole different branch of AI, like that one cousin we all have that’s exceptionally good at arts. As the name says, Generative AI generates content like images, converts text to images, makes music, and writes the text. It is a strategic AI technology for 2022 and 2023 , according to Gartner. And while making music and generating images doesn’t sound like important work for any business, think about the application Generative AI can have in marketing. To be able to generate human-like grammatically correct text relevant to the topic and give it a compelling visual with only AI can easily change the flow of the digital marketing industry.

#4 Reinforcement Learning

Do you need a way to successfully use AI in robotics, games, data science, and finance? Then you need artificial intelligence focused on decision-making and reward-based training. Reinforcement learning is the keyword here since this branch of AI learns from the environment and then adjusts its behavior to maximize rewards. In other words- it goes by the ‘trial and error’ principle, learns from its mistakes, and does better the next time. Just like humans do!

Only AI won’t fall into the trap of making the same mistake again. If Reinforcement AI comes across a situation it has already “learned,” it will always pick the best outcome and the one that achieves its goals. It’s easy to understand why business owners are most excited about this AI trend seeing the possibilities it can have in boosting any business.

#5 Multimodal Learning

Multimodal learning helps the system learn more about our world, extracting the data needed from images, text, speech, sound, and video. Things we, as humans, instinctively know because of a little thing called commonsense.

“Common sense is the dark matter of artificial intelligence,” said Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, when talking about AI having zero common sense. And until now, AI didn’t know how to grow its own common sense in the same way we humans – through a combination of visual, linguistic, and sensory cues.

Enter Multimodal AI systems. Finally, artificial intelligence can address the lack of commonsense knowledge with these types of systems. For example, the concept of apple for AI includes vision-related information- color, shape, size, and sometimes even texture. But Multimodal AI systems will be able to know that green apples are also more bitter than red apples, that apples can be used to make apple pie, and the reason why apples are considered a sign of appreciation. So, in short, Multimodal AI systems can ”see the bigger picture”.In business, multimodal AI systems can serve as a good tool in digital marketing by recognizing the images and generating automatic descriptions or detecting false news by verifying, understanding, and cross-referencing one text with billions of others.

#6 AI Virtual Reality

The dawn of the virtual world is rising, and it’s all thanks to AI technology. The creation of an online environment is no longer a science-fiction thing but is almost guaranteed in the near future. At the core of virtual and augmented reality are different branches of AI technology trying to solve problems like creating realistic holograms to shape the virtual world. There are many benefits to Data & AI for a business, and Virtual Reality trend is probably the most exciting way to explore most of those benefits.

“Only recently, with the emerging machine intelligence innovations, have we had access to the powerful tools and capabilities to make use of the advances in computer technology,” said Yifan Peng, a researcher at Stanford Computational Imaging Lab.

It goes without saying that pairing AI technology with some of the most popular software development trends like AR and VR can open a whole new world of possibilities for companies. The ways businesses connect and interact with their users can change completely, and those businesses that try it first now will also be first on top.

#7 Computer Vision Technology

A recent Gartner poll showed that companies worldwide are expected to spend more than $670,000 over the next two years just to get their hands on machine vision technology.

This type of AI enables machines to interpret pictures and videos, with algorithms capable of identifying and categorizing items. It’s primarily used in self-driving vehicles, healthcare, manufacturing, farming, and agriculture.

Automated Artificial Intelligence tools will be a way for many businesses to overcome the skill shortage and cut costs. Unfortunately, data scientists are few and far between, and not every company can afford to hire one. So, to generate value from their data, many businesses will use AI-powered tools to analyze data streams, generate ML models and find actionable insights. This will help companies increase revenues, enhance operations and optimize their costs.

How Data & AI Will Shape Business Growth In 2023

As we near the end of 2022, we can say that this year was where companies learned about the power of AI and how to leverage data & AI to spur business growth. Many reports show that implementing Data & AI in certain industries, even if you automate a portion of your daily business processes, can result in a staggering revenue increase. The development of digital services was the primary strategy for surviving the pandemic, but now business’ digital transformation is playing offense with AI-powered solutions.

Many companies have already made investments in AI innovations that are developing and refining at an incredible speed, already creating trends and changing industries. Read on and see how Data & AI shaped business growth in 2022 and will continue in 2023.

• HOLISTIC PLATFORMS REIGN

Most businesses have collected data to solve a specific problem in the past. However, 2021 and 2022 marked the years of consolidations through acquisitions and mergers, which will continue in 2023. Therefore, if enterprises use point solutions, it can lead to conflicting information across all departments.
Machine learning and AI are the way to create holistic DEA (Digital Experience Analytics) solutions that will analyze a large amount of customer data and give a more comprehensive picture of user experience, thus impact organizational efficiency.

• DATA DEMOCRATIZATION

With a shift to a data-driven decision-making mindset in most companies, the data collected needed to be accessible to more people. So, in 2022, data was democratized within an organization, with leaders and departments able to access data, increasing transparency.

The focus on data will lead to a greater need for AI-powered tools, with a particular emphasis on the quality of data and data tracking.

• PRIVACY CHANGES

Many businesses have already adopted Responsible AI solutions, but not all. With the new government rules and regulations regarding data collection and privacy, companies will have to balance being compliant and giving their users control over their data.

In 2022 companies had to find a way to accommodate the regulations and their customers’ desire to be able to control how their data is being used while still having a hyper-personal digital platform experience. Responsible AI solutions are, at the moment, a perfect tool that allows for both and further helps companies make fairness and transparency become consistent practices.

• DATA & AI IT TALENT

Businesses that want to implement automation to increase productivity need to know that automation can be overwhelming. Leaders should start small in order to scale efforts successfully but to do that, they need great data IT talent.
Due to a talent shortage and Data specialists, having an in-house data scientist is no easy feat. The solutions come in the shape of companies that offer services of creating AI solutions tailored for each business.

• SAFER ROADS

There’s a theory that AI is replacing humans and, one day, we will perish because of it, but no one is talking about the dark side of human beings and how AI can help us make this world safer from….well, us. For example, safer from an individual’s uncontrollable desire to operate a vehicle while under the influence. Or perhaps safer from the misfortune of having a drowsy truck driver falling asleep at the wheel because the economic situation caused him to take on more working hours.

These are all possible scenarios happening daily worldwide, often ending up terribly and counting many fatalities. But AI technology can help us, humans, stop taking unnecessary risks by taking a ride with us and keeping us safe.

AI-enabled cameras and sensors built into commercial or personal vehicles can prevent a person from drunk driving by measuring moisture content on the drivers’ hands via sensors located on the wheel. AI can also save drivers from carbon-monoxide poisoning by gaining data through an air quality monitoring system and executing an automated window opening. Such AI-powered systems are needed in order to make professions like trucking safer and more appealing, which would be a great way of solving the current driver shortage.

Implement the Latest Data & AI trends with Quantox Technology!

Connect with some of the best Data & AI specialists in the IT industry here at Quantox Technology – a place where AI innovations are born! From computer vision to natural language processing, we use cutting-edge technology to build reliable AI applications tailored to your industry and a way to scale your business and boost revenue. Want to implement AI in your business? Let’s Talk!

‍

The rise of mobile apps began when businesses realized they could use mobile apps to boost their revenue by reaching their consumers easier. Now more and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon of leveraging mobile apps for business and earning a great deal of profit through the mobile medium. Whether they’re developing in-house applications or hiring a mobile app development company, they all want the possibilities and opportunities which come with having a business mobile app.

Knowing why investing in a mobile app is a smart business move in 2022 is the first step to success. Still, once we go deeper into mobile app development, we uncover other important factors that can lead to either success or downfall. One of those factors is knowing which mobile app development tool to use that will fit the budget and the app's specifications perfectly.

What is App Development Tools, and How Do They Work?

If a mobile app is a painting and the developer is a painter, then mobile application development tools are the brushes. There are many of them, and their usage comes down to the app's requirements but also the developer's personal preferences.

Mobile app development tools are the software used by the developer to build innovative, secure, and scalable applications. These tools will give all the resources to the developer in order for them to build an app that integrates with the device's hardware as well as any other business feature that can lead to high-quality results.

The Best App Development Tools You Can Use in 2022.

Sketching the business mobile app idea is a great way to simplify mobile app development. Having all features, goals, and designs ''on paper'' allows developers to clarify their tasks and goals while building your app and which app development platform they need to build for. Once you have sketched your idea, the developer can go on and choose the best app development tool and platform to make that idea come to life.

Many great mobile app dev tools can help them with this job:

Open-Source

• Framework 7- offers both iOS and Android support, and it can help create an app that has an iOS feel for Android. In addition, it's easy to understand for those who already have excellent knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The most notable features are Material Design UI, custom DOM library, native scrolling, and XHR caching and preloading.

• Ionic- based on the Sass CSS language and cross-platform. It can be used to build advanced apps because it can be integrated with AngularJS. Ionic has a library of mobile-optimized HTML, CSS, and JS CSS components and tools and works with predefined components.

Cross-platform & Hybrid

• BuildFire- high-performance, DIY mobile app builder that supports iOS and Android phones and tablets. It has over 45 pre-built plugins, features, a direct integration to Segment, Smooch, and others, and pre-existing templates. With BuildFire, you can launch your mobile app in 30 minutes. In addition, the building of the app is free, while launching costs only $20 per month.

• Mobile Angular UI- allows you to build HTML5 mobile apps with Bootstrap and Angular JS. It also provides overlays, sideboards, switches, scrollable areas, and bottom navbars for an easy mobile to desktop transition.

• Xojo- app development tool for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, x86 Linux, iOS, Raspberry Pi, and the web. It allows developers to create native apps while providing Xojo Cloud for easy maintenance-free web app hosting.

• Corona Labs- supports all platforms, and while being specially made for building 2D graphic games and educational apps, it can be used for developing other 2D apps.
• Jotform Apps- has over 300 app templates that are very easy to customize and manage. With this drag-and-drop builder, you can add anything you want- forms, external links, widgets, and images. It is the best app builder for small businesses, HR departments, restaurants, and healthcare providers.

• Unity- it is one of the most popular game development platforms you can use to build high-quality 3D and 2D games. You can even use Unity to build AR and VR apps, the industry’s latest development trends, in no time and deploy them across multiple platforms.

• Xamarin- is a Microsoft-owned software company with a C# codebase you can use to develop iOS, Android, and Windows apps. It allows code sharing on multiple platforms and has a cloud service that you can use to test the app on an unlimited number of mobile devices.

• Appcelerator- uses JavaScript to create native code. It also offers over 5,000 APIs for Android, iOS, Windows, Blackberry, and HTML5. Appcelerator is not the easiest tool to learn but has loads of features.

• React Native- open-source framework from Facebook with a ''learn once, write everywhere' mantra using JavaScript as its main code. It allows quick prototyping and high initial velocity while being easy to learn and implement with any feature you can think of.

The best mobile app development tools for Android are Android Studio, Eclipse, ItelliJIDEA, and Corona Labs.

No-coding needed mobile app development tools are BuildFire and EachScape.

The best Windows mobile app development tools are Xamarin and Corona Labs.

Disadvantages of Using an App Builder Tools

By using an app builder tool, developers can build a solid working mobile application in a short amount of time. Presenting a business app before your competition may have its perks. Still, rather than that, you'll want to submit a mobile business app that works perfectly and offers a great user experience to your consumers.

Here's why using an app builder tool can sometimes put you at a disadvantage:

1. Limited Design

When you use an app builder, you limit your mobile app in terms of design. There are only that many templates you can use to create your app, and most of them are alike, which little to no editing possibilities. If your business mobile app needs to be unique, an app builder will not give you the design you need to stand out.

2. No structure or code editing

Because most app builders use made-ready templates and features, it's hard to change or add a new feature to the app builder. So if your app needs a unique, never-seen-before feature, the app builder will not allow you to create it or code it. Furthermore, you may have access to a smaller pool of templates and features if you choose the basic subscription plan.

3. Additional Charges

Do you need a feature for your mobile app but don't have access to it? You probably missed out on paying the ''premium'' or ''pro'' subscription plan. The more you spend, the more the app builder will give you. Not to mention, subscription fees are not a pay-once expense but an ongoing expense that may as well amount to quite a lot.

Hire Quantox to Build Your Application - Stay Competitive, Save Time and Money

Quantox has been successfully working in the software development field for many years, during which we have accumulated the knowledge of what it takes to create exceptional web and mobile applications for small businesses and large enterprises. As your partner, we will work on the project focusing on your business' needs, as our expert developers turn your idea into an effective mobile solution that will save you time and money and help you dominate your market. Do you need a mobile application for your business? Let's Talk!

DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

Why Investing in An App Is A Smart Business Move in 2022?

As consumer behavior keeps changing, now more than ever, businesses need to adapt their strategies to ''find'' their target audience. Unlike before, consumers are no longer interested in hanging around business centers in large cities or searching for their products ''by foot''. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the matter, and many businesses with physical locations became unreachable due to frequent lock-downs. So, where can companies find their customers? The answer, of course, is- online.

The nature and the potential of mobile phones are slowly reshaping how business is being done. As a result, the leading companies in the industry have taken on a mobile-first approach to creating effective business strategies. One of the critical points of such a strategy is the mobile app strategy. Still, many other companies have yet to embrace mobile apps, relying on mobile web to help them increase traffic. 

On the other hand, mobile apps have shown to be an invaluable asset that helps grow customer relationships and increase customer retention. So, while not being an all-around solution to business success, mobile apps have much to offer.

Why Invest in Business App Development?

How Can an App Help You Reach More Customers?

If a business wants to stay afloat in today's world, they need to find a way to reach as many of its consumers as it can. To reach those consumers, they need to think like them and put themselves in the client's shoes. Only once they do they realize that most of their target audience doesn't have time to sit in front of the computer and browse the whole day. Their consumers are busy and have but a bit of time to search for things of their interest. However, what almost all consumers around the world have in common, regardless of the industry, is the presence of a mobile phone.

Mobile phone and mobile app usage grew to the point where search engines like Google decided to use mobile-first indexing when ranking websites. In simple terms, those websites that are optimized for mobile search are ranked better. Doing business with a mobile-first approach is catering to the consumers' needs, which means a superior customer experience.

The Benefits of an App for Customer Engagement

When it comes to customer engagement, businesses have a tough job at their hands. The latest app development trends allow businesses to reach out to more customers, but how do businesses make their consumers stick around? 

Today's business environment is hyper-competitive and is exceptionally inventive when it comes to making the buying process as streamlined as possible. In other words, customers are willing to buy products, goods, or services as long as it's not too much of a hassle and doesn't take much of their time.

That's where mobile apps come in, making almost two-step buying processes, automating routine tasks, and giving new possibilities to consumers and businesses every day. 

Catering to Customer Preferences

The irony of mobile usage is that the more we develop mobile phones, the less the users are inclined to use them for calling other people. Instead, today they prefer to manage their life with just a few clicks. Take Domino's Pizza, for example- their new delivery mobile app in the UK increases their e-commerce sales by 24.4%, with more than half of the orders coming through the app. With more than 10 million downloads, their mobile app proved they understand how their customers think.

Push and Pull Notifications

''Out of sight, out of mind'' is the adage, but that's why push and in-app notifications are here for. Such notifications, provided they contain relevant and valuable content, can bring a customer back to the app they forgot they even have on their phones. Moreover, notifications that can catch a consumer's attention can also make them respond to any marketing offer, thus leading to more sales.

Location-based Content

A good business marketer knows you can never cater to your consumers' needs too much. That's why the best marketers leverage geofencing technology to send location-specific, timely, data-driven, and contextual content to their users. This type of beacon can be used to send location-based offers, promote loyalty programs, and even offer mobile-based payments in the area to your consumers.

Rewards and Loyalty Programs

Consumers love rewards, and the better the program and incentive, the more loyal consumers are to the brand. In addition, the mobile app allows businesses to present loyalty programs to their consumers more efficiently and transparently. Through an app, consumers can easily access the points they've collected, how to add them up and where they can use them.

The Power of Analytics

The biggest leverage mobile apps bring to the table is knowing your consumers inside out. Valuable data collected through apps can help companies understand the customer better. For example, they can fine-comb their browsing history to find what consumers need, what problems they need solving, and what their technological preferences are. Later on, businesses can use information from data and create special offers for their consumers which will target their needs and requirements perfectly.

The Different Types of Apps You Can Develop for Your Business

There are three main types of mobile apps businesses can choose from and see which one is more suitable for their brand:

Progressive Web Application

PWA is a software app that will install on your system. It's a sort of web app but looks similar to mobile apps. The main difference between mobile and web apps is that web apps need internet connectivity to run. PWA can work both online and offline, and that's where the similarity to mobile apps comes from.

Examples: BookMyShow, Pinterest...

Native Mobile App

Native Mobile apps need to be downloaded from Google Play Store (Android) and App Store(iOS). These types of applications are developed specifically for a specific type of device. For example, photos can be uploaded directly from a device to the mobile Instagram application, but the same is not possible on the Instagram Web app.

Examples: Instagram, Twitter, Google Maps, Skype, etc.

Hybrid Mobile App

If you want to build a mobile app that combines the features of Native app development and PWA in one platform, hybrid apps are the best route to take. 

Examples: Facebook, Amazon, etc.

Mobile Apps vs. Web Apps - Which is the Better Option?

Whether a business should build a mobile app or a web app depends on its specifications. Companies need to think about the features they believe are most important, the company's goals, and the app's main function. A web app is the best way to go for businesses that need an interactive resource for additional information. Native mobile apps are better suited for those who need access to the device's camera or GPS. So, to create a perfect app, you need to know all about app development platforms and which one you’ll be using to build your app. Choosing the right app development platform may expedite the app development process.

Here are the pros and cons of mobile and web apps to help you determine which one is the better option.

Mobile Apps

Pros: Mobile apps are faster than web apps and have great functionality because they have access to system resources. They are also safe and secure, needing approval from the app store. In addition, they can work offline and are easier to build by using great app development tools and SDKs.

Cons: They are more expensive to develop because they are platform-specific. That means a version needs to be built for every platform, meaning programmers and developers need to make a new code for each version. This also means maintenance and updates are costly, and some native apps may have difficulties being approved by the app store.

Web Apps

Pros: Unlike mobile apps, you don't have to write the code twice to make web apps. They tend to be built using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. There's also no standard software development kit, and developers have access to templates. So the development process is easier and quicker. 

Cons: Web apps are much slower than mobile apps and have fewer features. On top of it, they don't work offline. And because they don't need to be approved by an app store, their quality and security are not that great.

What to Consider When Planning Your Business App?

Several vital aspects in a mobile app planning stage need to be planned out to perfection for the app to reach its full potential. Take a look at the most important things to consider when planning your business app.

Define a concept

Your business app needs to help people, i.e., your consumers, solve a real problem. What are the benefits of your app? Is it going to make their lives easier? To get you started, here are some questions you can use at this stage:

• What is the app's purpose?
• What do we want to achieve with the app?
• How will it engage consumers?
• What are its core features?
• Are my client's going to see the app as useful?

Understand your Consumers

Learn as much as you can about your consumers and their needs, goals, and technological preferences. Consider the following:

• Who are my users?
• What type of problems are they faced with?
• How are they solving a problem I am trying to solve with an app?
• Which platforms do they use?
• Which devices do they use?

You can also connect with your users by asking questions on forums or working with a focus group.

Do the Market Research

It's always good to check on what your competitors are doing. Take a look at the apps similar to the one you are trying to make and ask yourself:

• What are these apps like?
• Do they solve the user problems?
• How do they engage users?
• How do they communicate with users?

Establish App Goals

Mobile app development includes planning to prevent feature creep and help with important business or technicals you'll need to make. But regardless of the goals, you set for your business app, the most important thing is to know them early and work towards them from phase 1.

Determine the Value

Your app has to have a unique value for your clients to consider downloading and using the app. Whether it's access to some features or a low-cost service, you can satisfy your consumers' needs and your business with an app.

App Development Process - The challenges of developing an application

Irrespective of the app concept, design, and marketing plan, mobile app development has many other challenges related to the app development itself. So even with the best laid-out plans, developers need to overcome many hurdles to create a high-quality mobile app. This is something businesses need to know and keep in mind for them to set realistic goals and timelines.

• Standing Out From the Crowd: Creating an app that will stand out is tough these days with so many great apps available on app stores. However, businesses that strive toward creating world-class mobile apps need to develop an app that includes functional features, intuitive design, and graphics to boost the user experience.

• Responsive: A great business mobile app needs to work like a clock on all platforms. This means that developers need to adopt responsive design throughout the whole app development process.

• Battery performance and consumption: No matter how great the app is, users will choose not to use it if it costs them valuable battery percentages. Large battery consumption and low performance can cause other issues in the mobile application testing phase.

• Choosing the right technology: Whether it's a native, hybrid, or cross-platform application, a great mobile app needs to be adaptable and versatile, bespoke to its user with a design that will keep them engaged.

• Security: To prevent the disintegration of both software and hardware, the mobile app needs to be free from malware issues.

• Hiring the right developer: Businesses can choose to hire in-house developers, freelancers, or app development agencies. However, the first two come with a few drawbacks. Building an in-house development team can take several months and can be costly while freelancing developers are hard to keep track of, especially if they are working in a different time zone. Also, there’s more focus on the building of the app itself, while the design, something users appreciate the most, may suffer. Many businesses rely on a mobile app development company to handle their projects. App development agencies usually provide end-to-end services, meaning they will be running your project from idea to launch while also managing each task in-between. Businesses can even get advice and help with their digital strategies from an app development company. However, businesses should only work with app development agencies that are willing to sign a service agreement to protect their intellectual property and determine the app's ownership. For that reason, it's essential to know how to hire the right app development company that you can trust.

How Quantox Can Help Your Business with App Services?

With more than 15 years of experience working in mobile app development, Quantox Technology proved its expertise in developing apps never seen before on the market. Our team includes mobile app developers but also sales and marketing specialists with the knowledge of managing the mobile app development process from the initial idea to final market placement. With 13 offices in 7 countries and more than 500 dedicated professionals, we've joined forces to create next-generation digital products. Do you need a business mobile application? Let's Talk!

DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

In 2022 mobile applications are on the rise, and many business owners are slowly discovering the benefits of having a mobile app. Still, the mobile app development process can be pretty complex and even more complicated for those with no prior app development knowledge.

So, in order to fully leverage the power of mobile apps for business, business owners should first learn more about the app development platforms that will help them build an app bespoke to their business profile and goals.  Mobile app development platforms will allow you to build your application fast, explore all the benefits of having one, and finally make you understand why investing in an app is a smart business move in 2022. 

But first-What is an app development platform? What are the benefits of app development platforms? Read more and find out all the answers.

What Is An App Development Platform?

When it comes to building a mobile app, there’s no getting around MADPs- mobile application development platforms. These platforms are actually software that allows businesses to build, test, and sometimes even deploy mobile apps. It is a collection of app development tools, services, and technologies that enables business owners to design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain their mobile apps across different platforms, networks, and devices. That’s why MADPs are also referred to as cross-platform mobile app development.

Mobile application development is complex because an app has to be compatible with all devices and mobile platforms to gain success. So, designing one app sometimes includes creating many codebases to ensure that compatibility. However, developers have to maintain only one codebase with a mobile application development platform, making MADPs a great high-tech-low-cost solution for many businesses. 

The Benefits Of Using A Mobile App Platform

According to the newest research, as much as 42% of developers worldwide are using some type of cross-platform or framework to develop applications. The reason is apparent- it makes their job so much easier by having to write just one code instead of a code for each device, platform, or network. 

However, business owners should know that app development platforms have other benefits that directly impact their brand's relationship with its user.

Here are the main benefits of app development platforms for businesses:

1. Helps Your Brand Stay Consistent

Keeping your business application consistent across all platforms will make your consumers' life more manageable. Instead of being greeted with a new user interface every time they switch devices, they'll be welcomed to an environment they're already familiar with. Mobile app development platforms can help you stay consistent with the UI and UX of your business application.

2. You can Market Faster

Since there's no need for developers to create a different application for each platform, they can quickly build and publish your business app and market them on app stores simultaneously. In terms of business, this means you can reach all your potential customers and consumers at once, be they Android, iOS, or Windows users.

3. Easy Implementation

One of the features most application development platforms have is the ability to convert any type of code into a different one. That means that a developer can write the code in HTML and later convert it to other platforms. In terms of business, this lowers the cost of building a mobile application. Instead of hiring a full-stack developer, you only need a developer proficient in one programming language.

4. MADP Makes Maintenance Easier

The mobile industry is forever evolving and constantly updating, so bugs are inevitable in making the mobile application run perfectly. However, multiple codes mean bugs and fixes become a hassle, and managing a business application for all devices and platforms becomes very difficult.

Mobile application development platforms allow you to fix bugs on just one codebase and make instant improvements for all devices. You also won't have to run as many tests, and the deployment will be quick and easy, making the support part streamlined and hassle-free.

What Is The Best Mobile App Development Platform?

The three types of mobile app development platforms- Native, Hybrid, and Mobile Web- can all be used to build a successful business mobile app that will attract consumers and increase revenue. However, knowing which one to use is a different matter entirely. Depending on the type of business, products, target audience, and budget, business owners should carefully select the platform with the most potential to ensure success.

Native Mobile Apps

Native mobile apps are built for a specific mobile platform, like Android and iOS. The developers building native mobile applications usually use Objective-C or Swift for iOS and Java for Android to build the app's code.

When To Use It: 

• If you are making an operating system-specific business app, building native apps will utilize the device's hardware like GPS, Bluetooth, or Camera better. 
• Gaming apps are also better when made native because those apps will have the best performance, thus providing the best user experience.

When Not To Use It:

• If you're developing a cross-platform app, bear in mind that you'll have trouble finding one developer who knows many different programming languages. Even if you do, expect their rates to be higher than most and considerably affect your budget.
• Furthermore, native apps require APIs to control the content, so you'll need to have a technician on board skilled at developing APIs. Be warned that developing API is troublesome and costly.
• You'll probably want to stay away from building native mobile apps if you're on a tight budget but want to build a cross-platform mobile app. Native mobile development and maintenance are both very costly.
• If you are developing a blog mobile app or news site, you won't get much out of a native mobile app. The native mobile app leverages the device's capabilities like camera features or gesture to increase user experience. If the only thing your mobile app is offering is information and content, there's no need for you to create a native app.

Hybrid Mobile Apps

One part native, one part web- hybrid apps are web content in the form of a local repository. The code is usually written in web languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

When To Use It:

• If you are creating a cross-platform business mobile app, hybrid apps may be your best choice. This is because they can be ported to multiple platforms and save considerable time and money while doing so.
• When your mobile app development budget is on the low side, it's good to build a hybrid app because it doesn't require resources with specific programming requirements. By using third-party libraries, the native code can be wrapped over the existing layer making development affordable while still getting the benefits of reaching more users.
• If your app requires it, the hybrid will give you many opportunities for monetization for in-app purchases and advertising.
• Hybrid mobile apps are easy to build now there are so many great tools with cloud IDE, CLI, debugger, and remote online building tool all in one.

When Not To Use It:

• If your business app requires you to alter the platform's hardware features, hybrid may not be the best solution for you. Changing the code may result in getting rid of some features to make your app work, and you'll never be sure if those changes will only cause more bugs or not.
• Do you want a fast mobile app? Well, then, you should reconsider making a hybrid mobile app. Unfortunately, hybrid mobile app rendering may include some additional time lag so the data is not processed as fast as it is in native data, which gives hybrid apps only moderate performance.

Mobile Web Apps

Mobile web apps are not really applications but more like a website with functions similar to a native app. They run through the web browser, but they are designed for a mobile app by single-time coding.

When To Use It:

• Only one code is needed to make a Mobile Web Application before you deploy it to multiple platforms at the same time. They are an excellent choice for multi-platform usage.
• Also, if your mobile application offers more content than functions, like, for example, a news app, a mobile web app would be the best pick for you.
• And because your web apps are not bound by app stores, there are no rules when it comes to mobile web app development. This gives your app the benefit of introducing web app updates quickly, with your users seeing them within the app instantly. 

When Not to Use Them

• Suppose you are developing a business app that requires high-quality graphics or low latency for something like online gaming, online trading, and VOIP services. In that case, you're not going to get the level of performance you need with a mobile web app. That's because the mobile web depends on the internet speed.
• The drawback of mobile web apps is that they should be developed across different devices and fit the content to any resolution. In addition, the added coding increases the overall mobile app dev expenses.
• Finally, mobile web apps can offer only a subscription-based monetization model and have little to no monetary benefits.

As you can see there’s no one perfect application development platform and by using the correct one you’ll be able to build an app that not only caters to the users, but also fits your business goal, model, and budgeting. So, before you dive deeper into mobile app platforms, make sure to determine the target audience of the app and what you want to achieve with your business mobile app. Furthermore, make sure you check out all the top trends in app development like 5G and VR because they may impact which type of mobile app you need to build. 

What Are The Drawbacks Of Using An App Development Platform?

As the title says, while there’s ‘’the Good’’, there’s also ‘’The Bad’’ and ‘’The Ugly’’ of the mobile app development platforms. The drawbacks are something business owners must learn about in order to avoid spending more money than necessary, but also ensure a hassle-free mobile applications dev process. 

There are several drawbacks to using MADPs and creating a cross-platform app:

• Low Functionality and Performance

Since cross-platforms are not built for just one specific platform, you may not be able to leverage the functionalities of all smartphones to their fullest potential. For example, developers could be having a hard time trying to make use of the different devices' cameras and microphones. 

Also, native apps use at least half less CPU power than any corresponding cross-platform app. The same goes for memory usage- native apps are far less demanding on the hardware. And on top of it all, these types of applications require an additional layer of rendering which often impacts the speed and overall performance of the app.

Moreover, when you build an app with a cross-platform framework, the more complex apps are at a higher risk of issues running on one of the platforms. Cross-platform frameworks also have delayed access to the latest Android and iOS updates. In order to bypass the bugs and errors, you need to have high-quality code at the base of the development and proper testing.

• Limited Customization Options

Cross-platforms aren't as flexible in UX components as native mobile apps. In other words, cross-platform apps are limited in terms of layout, and this can badly impact the user experience.

• Inefficient code

The main advantage of MADPs can also become its major flaw- almost every developer can use them to create a mobile application for a business. However, this risks developing inefficient code, which, when translated for other platforms, just doesn't perform well.

For business owners having a mobile business app that doesn't work could mean losing money instead of earning. In addition, having an in-house app development team can cost thousands, and freelancing developers are sometimes hard to reach and manage.

Knowing how to hire the right app development company you can trust can be your saving grace. App development companies can offer much more than having a developer build your app through MADP. With such a company, your mobile app idea can be developed to the fullest because most of these companies offer more than just their developers. Besides building an efficient code, they also provide market analysis, marketing strategies, and target audience research. They can help you determine your mobile app's goals and milestones while coming up with a user-friendly interface, impeccable design, and ensuring your application includes all necessary features. 

Why You Should Hire Quantox to Make Your App Idea A Reality?

To its clients, Quantox provides more than just mobile business applications. We give our clients a choice to take advantage of all the benefits of having an app that will improve their brand's performance. By taking on a cumbersome development process, writing immaculate code, and creating efficient mobile applications, our clients are free to focus on product innovations. In addition, our expert developers always focus on end-user experience and conversion, which allows us to take your idea to a whole new level. Let's Talk about your new business application!

DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

As one of the fastest developing industries, the mobile phone industry has brought us many innovations in the past decade, and software solutions capable of changing all aspects of our lives. Today, almost everything can be done through or on a smartphone, leading to the rise of mobile apps as a crucial part of our day-to-day lives. With the accessibility and connectivity that comes with our phones, it's clear to understand why having a mobile app is a smart business move. A business can offer convenience and rapidity to their users through their mobile app, catering to consumers via phones and reaching a broader scope of their target audience.

However, not many business owners know how to build a mobile app, so they are usually looking to hire a good and reliable software and app development company to build one that will ensure their brand's success. And with so many service providers, there's bound to be some stress over choosing the right app development company. So, to help you find the perfect app developing partner, we've presented a few important points you need to follow and shed some light on mobile app development companies and their services.

What do Mobile App Development Companies Do?

A mobile app development company is an agency specializing in designing and building apps and software solutions for all types of businesses and, more importantly, for various app development platforms and devices. Their development team can build any kind of app for mobile devices, smart devices, web, wearable technologies, smart TVs, tablets, and much more.

Their work includes programming the apps and creating an app concept, databases, admin panels, and APIs. Also, they'll be in charge of testing your mobile app, launching it on various app stores, and performing regular maintenance. But more importantly, a mobile app development company will take on the task of creating a design unique to your business brand and focus on giving the best user experience possible. This will allow your brand's voice and vision to come to life, reach your target audience faster and stand out from the competition with its functionality and consistency.

How to Choose the Best Mobile App Development Company?

Your business will benefit the most if you manage to find a company with extensive experience, proven performance, and knowledge of the latest technology and industry trends and business skills. Here's what you need to do in order to snatch a great app developing partner:

#1 Define Your App Development Needs

Before you even start thinking about searching for a mobile development company, you need to sketch your business app goals and needs. For example, are you a retailer and need an eCommerce mobile app? Do you offer content rather than goods? The answers to these questions will impact the technology and app development tools needed to create your mobile business app. Therefore, it would help if you had your app development needs laid out before you take that initial consultation with an app development company of your choosing because it's up to you to translate those needs to them and their developers in order for them to do their job well. If you fail to communicate what your mobile business app is all about, the values it should bring, and the problems it should solve for your users, you'll make it impossible for the development team to build a wholesome and effective app. 

#2 Do Your Research: Check Out The Company's Portfolio

Checking a company's portfolio has never been easier. Today, most app development companies present their portfolio online and are happy to advertise their projects. Once you have your list of companies, go online and search for the projects they were involved with. You'll gain a clear sense of their technical expertise and industry domain. You can always ask them to show you examples of projects they've worked on similar to yours to gain insight into their experience. This will help you know whether the company is proficient at handling projects like yours and what their results were.

#3 Ask For References And Read Online Reviews

Testimonials and reviews are one of the most valuable clues you can find and learn more about the company's reputation. Happy clients and diversity in clients are clear signs you've found a great app development company. Likewise, people dissatisfied with the service and product are more likely to share their experience in an online review. This will allow you to determine the company's flaws, whether it was a one-time mistake or something that the company has had issues with for a while now. Now, thanks to the reviews, you know which companies you need to stay away from.

#4 Ask The Right Questions Before Hiring

The more questions you ask, the more you know about what awaits you when you start working with an app dev company. However, you should always ask those most important questions rather than being hung up on some minor details. Make sure you see the example of their previous projects, learn all you can about the cost of their service and hidden expenses (if any), and their maintenance and support services. Learn as much as you can about the services they offer and which part of the mobile app development they'll be in charge off. For example, most companies provide UI and UX services, but some don't. On the other hand, some companies may include developing a marketing strategy or giving you a complete market analysis of their price. Always clarify what you're getting for the cost of their service.

Here are some questions you need to ask your app development company:

• What is their Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
• How much will the app cost?
• How long will it take to build the app?
• Should you build an Android or iOS app, and can they build both if needed?
• Who will manage the project and how?
• How will they test the app?
• Will they submit the app to the Stores?
• Can they refer you to a client in your sector?
• Do they offer maintenance and support services?
• Are they willing to sign the NDA (Non-disclosure) agreement?
• How can they handle your security concerns?
• How do they specify the code ownership?
• What is their approach to design?
• How many developers will be available for your project?

#5 Keep Communication Open Throughout The Entire Process

A company that does not offer feedback regularly is not really a company you'll want to work with. However, the more experienced app development companies will make an effort to include you in the app development process by giving you at least a weekly report on the mobile app dev process. They'll also notify you of any changes, issues, or setbacks that may impact your business app's price or timeline. This type of transparency and honesty on their part means you have chosen an app company you can trust. Look for a company that will give you at least a weekly update and keeps you posted throughout the whole development process. Don't be alarmed if the company is notifying you of issues and problems they've encountered while developing your app- this is an honest approach and a good communication practice on their part. With a company like that, you'll be sure there will be full transparency in work and that they're not trying to cover up their mistakes.

Why You Should Trust Quantox As Your App Development Agency?

By being passionate and creative and collecting the best talents from the industry, Quantox became an award-winning mobile app development company. With an objective to provide top-quality app development services bespoke to our client's requirements and exceptional communication, we've become known as a leading mobile app development company in 7 different countries and one worth trusting in. If you need an expert mobile app development company that caters to your brand's needs, Quantox is happy to help you. Let's Talk!

DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear exactly how much we can, and we do rely on technology to help us in our day-to-day life. The mobile application market has been burning since the first lock-down and in 2020 it was worth $318 billion. According to Statista, the mobile app market is expected to climb to $613 by 2025- a growth promising many opportunities for mobile software developers to build and deliver extraordinary mobile applications. This is why mobile apps are considered a smart business move in 2022.

With the technology advancements, consumer demands, and many other factors, mobile app trends are on the rise, but also hard to keep up with. Staying up to date with the latest mobile app trends is the most vital thing for businesses that want to leverage mobile apps to boost user interaction, retention, and increase sales. Furthermore, with the rise of mobile application trends, it becomes clear why investing in an app is a smart business move, one every business needs to consider. 

What are the Application Development Industry Trends in 2022?

caption mobile app development trends 2022

Armed with the tools for app development that will help you dominate your market, following these app development trends can be a game-changer for your company and your business mobile app.

• 5G

Where once 5G was just an idea in the making, now it has become an industry standard. With 5G everything we do on our phones from this year on will be faster and more efficient. While some application development trends end up being just a one-year trend, 5G will change the way mobile apps are being built. With so many advantages of the 5G coming with every new device, developers have more opportunities to create faster, more efficient, and innovative apps.

Furthermore, it will be easier for businesses to move to 5G in 2022 because many mobile operators stated they will dedicate as much as 80% of their profit to building 5G networks until 2025, according to GMSA Mobile Economy 2021 Report. Also, 5G technology may pave the way for Open-Ran, an open radio access network, which is an industry-wide standard for RAN interfaces that support the exchange of information between vendors' equipment.

• Mobile Commerce

Another thing the COVID-19 pandemic changed significantly is the way people go shopping. With the restrictions and lockdowns, people globally had to rely on the online eCommerce sector. To stay afloat, many businesses and retailers relied on mobile apps to earn profit during the crisis. And it worked. Not only that, but mobile apps during the pandemic also provided a much-needed sense of normality to all people by allowing them to shop for groceries, clothes, and other essentials.

Now, however, businesses are facing much larger competition and the only way to come out on top is to leverage an eCommerce business app.

Not only is an eCommerce app easy to use and gives easy access to products and services to its users, but it's also a great marketing tool. By using mCommerce platforms as a marketing channel, you directly connect to the end-users. Now, all it takes is a few push notifications of the latest deal, or a newsfeed informing them about the new offer, and you'll have better chances of reaching your target customers. Furthermore, if they decide to purchase your service or a product, this type of app will offer faster transactions for them, and they can get what they want in a shorter amount of time.

Mobile eCommerce can also increase in-store sales. Your users may use your mobile eCommerce app to check for product availability, pricing options, and reviews. By the time they come to the store, they've already decided to purchase your product.

• Blockchain

One of the biggest concerns of mobile app users is the misuse of their personal data. Blockchain technology trends can solve this issue because it provides decentralized databases. So, those mobile apps that use blockchain technology for security purposes become end-to-end encrypted. This means no person or company has the rights to the data or to modify the data. E-banking systems and e-wallets use blockchain technology for safer digital transactions and knowing how to find an app development company you can trust is imperative if you want to build this type of mobile application.

Keeping duplicate records and third-party validations can make any system vulnerable to fraud and cyberattacks. Blockchain is a members-only network, meaning you'll be receiving timely and accurate data, which can be shared only with those to whom you specifically granted access. As all transactions are recorded permanently, they are immutable, and not even a system administrator can delete them. And lastly, every transaction can be sped up with something called a smart contract- a set of rules which is stored on the blockchain and can be executed automatically. So, when it comes to security, blockchain is guaranteed to give you that and then some.

• Augmented Reality Technology

All the latest mobile app development trends include AR as a way to give a personalized experience to the end-user. Sellers and retailers can use AR to showcase their products in a more realistic way and even give their customers an option to try on clothes virtually before making a purchase. 

However, AR is not just a great trend to follow for retailers. Google Maps has something called ''Live View'‘; a feature created with the help of augmented reality technology. It lets you see the route in real-time on real-world images. We also must mention Pokémon Go which paved the way for AR in mobile app development with its unique and revolutionary way of using AR to engage its users.

Out of all trends, AR offers the most unique digital experience to the users. The best thing about it- your users don't need any special platform, hardware, or software to enjoy it. AR was first labeled as a gaming and entertainment technology, but there are so many examples of AR being used by businesses to increase user engagement. Those are the businesses that also managed to stand out from the crowd and cast a shadow on their competition by using AR to its full capacity. With AR they were able to come up with more creative campaigns that increased their position in the market.

• Wearable Technology

No matter how convenient and easy mobiles are and how they've absolutely minimized the user's effort needed to handle one, we still need to use at least one hand for them. Driving with the phone has even become punishable by law since mobile phones prove to be a distraction during rides. 

This is the reason why wearables have gained such popularity and the industry has been growing more each year. Manufacturers and developers today are designing several different versions of smartwatches and smart earbuds and all of them allow their users to take phone calls and navigate their destination while being engaged in another activity. Today, wearables are an industry valued at over $44 billion and one of the top mobile application trends.

Mobile-first Approach in Application Development

Cell phones today are being used more than ever and are embedded in our daily routines. With their busy schedules, people have just a few moments to check for news while waiting for the train or an appointment. All the downtime we have is being used to ''check something online'' and it's no surprise that on average people use their phones as much as 5 hours per day. 

The term ''mobile-first'' was coined by Google CEO Eric Schmidt back in 2010 when he first recognized that developing and designing applications for mobiles has great potential. Mobile-first approach was supposed to fix the problem of desktop applications giving a low-quality user experience when switched to mobile, which was always a problem between different app development platforms. However, if the applications were created and designed with the mobile-first approach, prioritizing features and capabilities of this app development platform, developers would get a space where they can be creative about how to engage users. 

The ''Mobile-first'' approach is specifically important in design. The mobile-first design means that you start designing a mobile app from the mobile end, which has more restrictions. Once you satisfy the mobile platform criteria you can expand the app's features to create a desktop or a tablet version. This method is also called progressive advancement. However, if the designers decide to do it the other way around, start building the app from an advanced end like a desktop then gradually cut some functions or content to make it compatible with the mobile end, this method is called graceful degradation.

How to Get Started with Quantox App Development for Your Business?

Quantox Technology prides itself on staying on top of the latest mobile app development trends but also on using our in-house genius to come up with new and innovative ways our clients can improve their customer retention and user experience. With more than 16 years of knowledge and experience in the app development industry, we can accurately predict what the future app development trends will be and ensure our clients are one step ahead of the game. The future of mobile apps is with Quantox! Let’s Talk!

DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

When it comes to developing software for either a company or an individual, questions like ''How much will this cost'' and ''How much time will this take?'' are inevitable. One of the most important things that a project depends on is the cost of software development.

It's only natural for the clients to wonder whether they can afford software development and if it will be done within the desired timeframe. Most of the sales meetings will revolve around this question. However, many clients often don't realize how many different factors impact the cost of software development because the highly complex estimate process is not transparent to them.

Still, when it comes to everything you need to know about software development in 2022 and all things related to making a good estimate, it's easy to get lost in a sea of information. That's why we decided to try to explain and help you understand this process better. The points we present to you will clarify the difference between Time and Effort and show you additional factors used to come up with a valid software development project estimate.

Average Cost of Software Development

If you are a start-up owner, having a precise estimate of the software development cost can help you plan your budget better. However, if you don’t have a detailed discussion with an IT company about the costs, all you’re going to get are vague answers.

This happens because more than just one factor determines the cost of the software. An app that requires only backend processing is much cheaper than one that’s connected to external systems and involves financial transactions. Still, a project’s complexity level is only one factor.

Other vital factors are the technology and people-hour required to build the software. The consensus online is that software development can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000. If the app can be built in under 700 hours, the cost will be in the lower price range, but if you want the same app to work across all platforms (web, Android, iOS…), the cost will rise to a 6-figure price.

Please take note that the prices listed in this article do not reflect the actual pricing of Quantox Technology but are rather a reflection of an analysis related to the average software development costs in the industry.

Main Factors of Estimating Software Development

The perfect software development cost estimate will consider that we are not living in a perfect world, and circumstances that are out of our control can happen often. Things like staff availability, deployment process, and the time it will take to access the system, or a database will affect the timeline of the project and, therefore, can affect the cost.  However, the following factors are the most important to explore if you want to learn how to determine the cost of software development in 2022.

• Platform

Different platforms like Android, Web, and iOS have a different volumes of users, and depending on which platform you’re building your software, you’ll be able to reach a different number of possible users. However, developing a cross-platform app takes means that the cost of software development is going to go up. A cross-platform app is deployable on all platforms with the same codebase. Still, you need an experienced team to save time on building this type of app, and it may not even be the best solution for products that include streaming, graphs, and dashboards.

Your next solution is to build a native app for each platform meaning one codebase for iOS native to this platform, and a different code for Android. However, this solution is also the most expensive one as you’re building two separate applications. You can always do what most start-ups do- focus on one platform until you achieve a certain level of success and expand your budget. After that, you can easily take on the cost of building the same app for all other platforms.

Now you're probably wondering, "But what about the cost of the software development technology?". If you opt for one of these 10 software development trends in 2022, like augmented reality, virtual reality, or blockchain, it may cost you more. However, you're still paying a developer, engineer, or programmer for the job. Most of these technologies do not require a special type of equipment to execute a project successfully- it's the knowledge and effort of the person working on it that's going to cost a little bit extra.

• Type of software project

Software development projects can be divided into the following types starting from the lowest level to the highest:

• Web Development: a custom web-based software development
• Software Integration: the existing software's capability is expanded by adding custom code. Here we include plugins, or packages like Office, data flow manipulation (NetSuite to QuickBooks), and similar.
• Software Modification: large-scale enhancement of the already existing software
• New Software Development: custom development of brand-new software.

Depending on the type of the project, we'll need a different team with a different amount of development effort. Once we have all the facts, we will reach the final estimate by combining this information with the project size analysis and team analysis.

The Size of the Software Project

This step can be a bit trickier because the size of the project sometimes doesn't correspond to its complexity. A large project can sometimes be more straightforward than a small but highly complicated project. Generally, software development projects are divided into small, medium, large, and enterprise.

• Small Software Project: Small software projects are considered those that will involve minor changes like making bug fixes or making minor changes to the user interface. All communication with the client will be them saying, "I want this changed/fixed," followed by "Here is how we changed/fixed it."

• Medium Software Project: In this category, we can include a small mobile application or web interface- anything where we have a single source of data. Medium-sized projects do include more minor tweaks and fixed, but also solutions and integrations. The interaction with the client is not as limited, and you may expect a few sessions or regular weekly check-ins.

• Large Software Projects: Almost everything is included in large-scale software projects: syst4ems integration, databases, security, logging features, framework, thinking hard about maintainability and scalability while creating multi-party applications across all known platforms. The client interaction is often daily, with weekly status calls being made to the higher-level management.

• Enterprise Software Project: Think of a large project and multiply it by a dozen. Enterprise-level projects are almost always built upon an underlying framework. Security, error handling, and logging are much stricter, while data integrity has become vital for these applications. Support systems are built to be "bulletproof" and handle as many as three concurrent faults without the user noticing anything. A great example is an Uber mobile app. In these types of projects, the client and the IT team become one, and their interaction includes daily status reports and calls across teams and divisions and weekly status calls to the higher-level management.

• Size of Development Team

When it comes to the size of the development team on one project, usually, we'll have at least three roles- a Project Manager, a Developer, and a QA Tester. However, depending on the size of the project, these three can expand the scope of their work, and we can have a developer who's also in charge of a testing phase. Larger projects, however, prefer to assign one role to one team member to get the job done.

• Location

Hiring software developers anywhere in the US or Western Europe may overwhelm your budget because their hourly fee averages around $100/hour. The developers based in eastern Europe proved that they could build software applications without compromising the quality and at a much lower rate. Asia can also offer software development professionals at a lower rate, but time zone, language barriers, and cultural differences proved to be a challenge for any type of project.

• Hiring Options

The IT industry allows you to find the best developers in the world to work on your software. You can hire a software developer in three different ways- as a freelancer, within an in-house team, or by outsourcing a development company.

-Freelance Software Developers: While there are a lot of great freelancing platforms where you can find amazing software developers for a low price, there’s practically little to no guarantee that your project will be completed successfully, if at all. There’s also no way for you to control the freelancer and the progress they are making on your project.

-In-house: Having an in-house software developer means hiring the one to work on your project from the comfort of your own office. That way, any issues or bugs can be resolved on the spot. However, the recruitment process can be time-consuming, even with the help of LinkedIn or Glassdoor. You’ll also find that having an in-house software engineer can require more investments in salaries, taxes, and equipment as well. Also, you’ll find out that software developers need a lot of really helpful software development tools to allow them to build and integrate your new software app, and this is something that will also have to come out of your budget.

-Outsourced: Software Development Outsourcing has a much more significant impact on the cost of software development. While developing software in-house does provide a certain amount of security to the client, the cost of outsourcing software development outweighs the additional security by reducing the cost by 40%. 

This happens because there's a gap between developed and developing countries like India and Mexico. With outsourcing, you can cut costs and still get a top-notch product. All it takes is a bit more focus on choosing the best software development partner in 2022 to get your project completed.

Our methodology for estimation of Software Development Cost

At Quantox, we recognize that there are no two businesses that are the same, and similarly, the apps and software we create for our clients are all unique. However, to start-up and business clients, knowing the cost of software development is imperative to plan their budget.

Our systematic process allows us to give our clients a precise cost estimate. When you show your interest in working with Quantox Technology, we make sure to schedule a meeting and discuss your idea in detail. We will ask you detailed questions regarding your app or software but also related to your goals and business requirements. You'll receive your cost estimate with an architecture diagram within seven (7) working days.

If you are satisfied with the project cost estimate, we can present a few options to start building your app the best way.

 How Quantox Can Help Your Business with Software development

Quantox Technology has been developing tailored software solutions for more than a decade, and we have a track record of creating accurate software development cost estimates. By including the non-technical factors that impact the cost of software development, our clients have a clear picture of what it takes to digitalize their ideas. If you need a software development cost estimate, Quantox Technology will be glad to assist you with it. Let's Talk!

You can learn more about how to estimate the cost of software development in our free eBook “The Ultimate Guide to software development in 2022”. Find out more about the 2022 programming trends and software development tools that can help your business grow.

Uplift for further steps

Quantox leaders are awarded the "EY Fast Growing Entrepreneur 2021" prize by the global auditing and consulting company Ernst & Young.

Vuk Popović and Filip Karaičić on behalf of Quantox Technology have been recognized among the most successful in 2021. at a ceremony which was held in Belgrade last month. This is the tenth year in a row that E & Y, through its global “Entrepreneur of the Year™” program, supports and promotes entrepreneurial achievements among individuals and companies that demonstrate vision, leadership and success.

Quantox is a story about vision.

Proof that ideas and dreams come true.

Vuk Popovic, founder, says:

"For me, being an entrepreneur means never stopping to learn and develop. Tackling technology 15 years ago as an entrepreneurial endeavour - with willpower, effort and persistence - has made Quantox an international company with more than 500 experts working in 13 development centres in 7 countries. It took courage and the vision remained the same -  improving our environment, the city, the country and the whole IT sphere and the world of technology by improving ourselves. "

According to Vuk, it was not easy at the very beginning, but each phase of development had its own challenges and achievements.

“One of the first goals was to primarily enable people across our country to work in the IT industry for global clients from their home city. The sudden changes and challenges in the last two years when we switched to remote work have shown how flexible we are and company still has continued to grow rapidly due to such circumstances, which was additionally influenced by the market situation. Today, the company cooperates with clients from over 15 countries around the world and various industries - from small brands to large international companies, which is a great motivation to be even better. One of the biggest challenges is achieving stable and sustainable growth and that is what we are constantly striving for - to grow stronger and improve quality, every day. This award is certainly an extra push in that mission."

Filip Karaičić, CEO of Quantox Technology, confirms that the journey took a lot of years, effort and energy, but after expanding into new foreign markets, doubling the number of employees in the last two years and the first domestic acquisitions, the company is more than ever ready for new steps forward.

"The end of the previous year was marked with the first Quantox’s acquisition in Serbia and we entered the spring of 2022. stronger for another domestic company and new team members. We are growing and pushing the boundaries and we are glad to be recognized in that stride. The IT industry is one of the fastest growing, providing constant dynamics and new opportunities. We believe that our position also brings the responsibility to encourage the progress of each individual, company as a whole and thus contribute to an even better positioning of Serbia on the global IT map. "

Plans for the future are a further expansion of expert teams and development centers in Western European countries, entry into new markets, and new acquisitions in the country and the region. "With the further expansion of expertise, we continue our mission to create an environment that encourages a progressive and innovative approach to digital challenges," concludes Filip.

During the previous years, more than 200 companies with 222 candidates participated in this program in the Republic of Serbia, and it’s a great pleasure to be chosen in the narrowest circle of visionaries with recognized achievements. 

The winners are chosen by an independent expert jury and selection is based on success factors such as entrepreneurial spirit, financial indicators, strategic direction, regional or international market presence, innovation, and personal integrity.

Great honor and motivation for the whole Quantox team!

As the world enters deeper into the digital era, it becomes clear that software development and the software industry, in general, will become essential. As a result, the software industry has already become the fastest-growing industry globally, and it continues to grow even more every day.

This phenomenon becomes easy to understand when we look at all the areas of our lives powered by software. Everything is powered by, controlled, or maintained by some type of software, from our homes, appliances, and bank accounts to medical equipment and even state security.

Creating software is not an easy task, and there's no one more important in the software development process than those who will create the software- software engineers and programmers. Thanks to their skill and meticulous work, we can have a myriad of software designed to meet our every need as human beings and society.

As such, software is essential for companies that want to be at the top of the market and stay there. The biggest benefits of having sustainable and secure software within an organization are increasing work efficiency and improving micromanagement.

However, software development is anything but arbitrary — the software development process is an incredibly detailed process that includes analysis, software development cost estimate, design, and development even before programmers begin writing the code. When backed up by the best development tools, programmers will have a much easier time creating, maintaining, debugging, and editing applications, programs, and frameworks. This is why finding the right software development partner that will handle all stages of the software development process is the most important thing for all companies. 

What is a software development tool?

Software development tools can also be called software programming tools because they are computer programs designed to make programming easier. They are used by software developers and programmers to write the code, but also to maintain and edit the code if needed. Software development tools can also be used for the support and debugging of other programs or applications. So in a nutshell, software development tools are software that makes software development easier and in some cases, possible.

There are thousands of great software development tools today and choosing the right one can be stressful and daunting. However, the reason why there are so many software development tools is that each one corresponds to a different need or preference. So, while having a choice can be confusing, it’s much better than having no choice or a limited one. And when it comes to choosing the right development trend, including a programming tool, finding the one that will suit all requirements can be considered as a jackpot.

Choosing the right one will depend on the project’s requirements, mainly on the framework and methodologies established in the early software development stage. Apart from that, there are also a few factors to consider before picking those development tools that will be the backbone of the project. In other words, the most important thing you need to know about software development is that developing tools are just too vital for software development to be overlooked.

Factors to consider while selecting a software development tool

The software tool is only as good as its software development process. Before a programmer starts writing the code, every detail such as specifications, framework, programming language, design, and goal must be determined. Likewise, having these in place will also help when choosing a perfect software development tool. The following factors will help you choose the best developer tools.

Must Be Applicable to the environment 

You wouldn't teach a fish to fly, so why would you use a Windows Desktop application for web deployment? Again, it's imperative that the software development tool is relevant to the given project's environment and applies to it perfectly.

Company Standards

Software development tools can also be used within a company to standardize. With a development tool, the company can move developers quickly between projects and creates one standard across all projects. 

Is the Tool Useful?

The collection of software development tools in the project must be, in fact, applicable to the project from the first software development phase to the completion of the project. 

Prior Experience With the Tool

A development team's experience with development tools should be taken into consideration. If the team is familiar with a software tool and the same tool could be useful to the project, it's a classic case of a win-win situation with a promise of a better workflow throughout the project.

Learning Curve

All developing tools have a learning curve, and some are easier to integrate into a team, while some are more challenging to add. Things like how much effort and time is needed to use the development tool should play a significant part in the decision-making process.

List of Best Software Development Tools

There are software tools for creating, and there are developing tools for debugging- for this reason, there are different categories of programmers' tools. The top 10 software development tools in 2022 are listed below.

1. Developer tools

Embold

As a software analytics platform that can analyze source code and uncover issues, Embold can save plenty of time and energy on fixing bugs and ensuring a program has security and maintainability. 

Best Features:

o   Embold plugins allow the developer to see the errors and vulnerabilities as they code before making commits.

o   Anti-pattern detection makes sure there is no compounding of unmaintainable code.

o   Easy to integrate with GitHub, Azure, Bitbucket, with plugins available for IntelliJ IDEA and Eclipse

o   Faster and deeper checks across ten programming languages

2. IDE Tools

NetBeans

Written in Java, the fastest web, mobile and desktop framework, NetBeans is a great open-source development tool. It uses C/C++, PHP, Java, JavaScript, and more.

Best Features:

o   NetBeans works with any operating system- Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, Windows, etc.

o   With features like Smart Code Editing, writing bug-free code, easy management process, and rapid UI development, it's no wonder it's the best IDE tool in 2022.

o   NetBeans 8 IDE offers code analyzers, converters, and editors that make updating the newest edition of Java applications easy.

o   Contributes to the learning curve of new developers and helps them understand the application structure with a well-organized code.

3. Database Tools

DBSchema

The ultimate virtual database designer tool, DBSchema, is used as a management tool for any database. 

Best features:

o   DBSchema supports NoSQL and SQLite, MySQL, Redshift, MongoDB, Showelflake, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL, etc. 

o   DBSchema allows the use of virtual keys to finding data from multiple tables.

o   'Query Builder' allows developers with minimum SQL experience to crate database queries visually.

o   Accessible test data generating for database admins and developers with 'Random Data Generator.'

o   Builds interactive chards, tables, and report sheets with 'Report Generator.'

4. Frameworks

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is the best open source and free framework for those developers building responsive websites and mobile-first software with CSS, JS, and HTML. It's a tool to use to develop faster but simpler websites.

Best Features:

o   You can customize it according to each project's requirements as an open-source tool.

o   Its built-in components are used in accumulating responsive websites with a drag and drop facility.

o   Application building is enabled by Bootstrap's plug-ins, pre-build components, responsive grid system, Sass variables, and mixins.

o   Great when it comes to quick ideas modeling and building web applications.

5. Cloud Tools

Azure

Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service, can design, deploy, test, and manage web applications or any hybrid could application thanks to Microsoft's global network of data centers.

Best Features:

o   Offers various services like mobile services, storage, messaging, media services, data management, CDN, virtual network, etc.

o   Azure supports many programming languages - .NET, Python, PHP, JavaScript, and more.

o   A detailed pricing list is available on their website.

6. Data Science Tools

Dataiku DSS

As a collaborative data science software platform, Dataiku DSS is used by data scientists, data analysts, and engineers to prototype, build and deliver their data products.

Best Features:

o   With Dataiku, DSS developers can profile the data visually at every stage.

o   80+ built-in functions allow developers to enrich, blend, and clean their data.

o   Dataiku DSS allows developers to build and optimize models in Python or R and also integrate any ML library through code's APIs.

7. Source Control Tools

GitHub

GitHub is probably the first thing most beginner programmers learn. GitHub makes code review and code management easier as a collaboration tool and development platform. Its users can build applications and software, manage projects, host, and review their code all in one place-GitHub.

Best features:

o   Easy code documentation and hosting from the same repositories.

o   GitHub project management tools are task-oriented, helping programmers co/ordinate easily and stay aligned.

o   Useful in large teams because of its code security, integration with other developing tools, and an option to access control among the team members.

o    It can be hosted on servers, and a could platform, and it also runs on Windows and Mac OS.

o    For open-source projects and public use, GitHub is free. However, their pricing plan for developers, teams, and organizations falls in the 'cost-efficient' category.

8. Prototyping Tools

Axure

Axure is mainly used by product managers, IT consultants, and business analysts worldwide to provide them with a way to produce wireframes, prototypes, and create documentation.

Best features:

o   Axure RP can generate prototypes in HTML and provide a link for sharing

o   It will be one of the best developing tools in 2022 because it allows several people to simultaneously work on the same file.

o   Runs on Microsoft IIS with either a MySQL or Microsoft SQL server database

o   Helps with creating and maintaining widget libraries

9. DevOps Tools

Codenvy

Codenvy is a cloud development environment that can be used for application coding and debugging and sharing projects in real-time.

Best Features:

o   As a cloud-based IDE, you don't have to install or configure Codenvy

o   It can be integrated with Jira, Jenkins, Eclipse Che extensions, or other private toolchains.

o   It can also be customized using IDE extensions, commands, stacks, editors, RESTful APIs, server-side extension plug-ins, etc.

o   It can run across platforms- on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. It can also run in a public or private cloud.

10.  Notification Tools

Send Bird

Send Bird tool is used as a messaging and chat API for websites and mobile apps. It prevents spam from flooding chat rooms and offers scalability for a greater audience volume.

Best Features:

o   Send Bird can read and track the status of messages sent.

o   Customer support and product recommendation are bot-assisted.

o   Offers Call-backs & Push Notifications

o   Read Receipt & Delivery Status

How Quantox Can Help Your Business with Software Development?

The success of your project can depend on what type of software development tool you choose but having the right kind of people working on your project is more vital to the success of your project. By choosing Quantox as your software development and IT solutions partner, you ensure your project is in 'safe hands'- those that will give you a high-quality code, keep the communication and the highest level, be flexible to meet your and your project's requirements and provide you with the top-notch IT service. Launch your projects with the best software development solutions at Quantox Technology and IT Solutions. Let’s Talk!

In our free ebook "The Ultimate guide to software development in 2022" we cover everything you need to know about Software Development. Learn how software is developed and how it can help your business.

 DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

Is your business regularly dealing with day-to-day fires? You know that in-house staff is very busy and you have problems finding and retaining new people? The answer to overwhelming IT issues that you are experiencing can be outsourcing. Whether you are a small business or a big enterprise, there are some parts of your IT department that can be handed to a third party to manage and organize. Simply put, it is hard to do internal 24/7 monitoring and management of an entire, often cumbersome, IT infrastructure. Many of the issues that can happen incur additional costs and potential business disturbances. Further failures, hardware, and software disasters, operation disorganization can be prevented. Additional costs can be prevented. Use some help. Provide support to your IT people, too.

What do you get from Outsourcing?

If you do research about outsourcing, you will find dozens of reasons why outsourcing is profitable and how it can impact your business. Let us highlight some of the most important that tells exactly what you get:

Money

Additional in-house expertise that you need can be a really expensive investment. New recruitment, employee onboarding, more payrolls - all of this usually demands you to first enlarge your HR team, before you even start recruiting the experts you need. As you may already be very well aware, all of this costs money. And a lot of it. Not only are you paying full employee packages for the IT experts that you need, but you are also paying the same for recruiters and other staff you might need to onboard all those new people. Of course, we must not forget the fact that this will take a lot of time, further costing you money as problems are not being handled, upgrades are not being installed, and more.By providing you with just the right experts at just the right time (usually yesterday), outsourcing can save you enormous amounts of money.

Resources

No more waste. No more resource mismanagement that doesn’t yield the wanted results and productivity. By choosing an outsourcing business model, you will have access to the widest range of resources that you don’t have in-house or you cannot afford to bring in-house. A larger resource platform also means you get to make smart moves and balance between proper task processing and quality customer service. An outsourcing partner will help you reach that balance and guide you on how to use these resources.

Time

Free your schedule of simple tasks and use your energy to develop ideas and potential new projects that can generate more income. Outsourcing gives you more time to focus on tasks that require your dedication. Let someone with more experience or someone more knowledgeable handle the work that distracts you. On the other hand, by involving a third party in your project, you are giving your business much-needed time and also a chance to reach sustainable, effective growth.

Storage

Your business needs don’t match your storage capacity? A simple solution is to outsource your data storage. Why? New assets are not necessary. On the other hand, the usage of modern technologies is possible without having to hire new IT staff. The highest costs in internal data storage are in administration and backup. If you handle this to an outsourcer, you will experience an overall cost drop. Do not worry about risk mitigation, because your outsourcing partner has automatically saved your data offsite and has a fully integrated system for data restoration within the business requirements.  

Bussines Focus

Closely tied with time management, business focus is something that you can lose with an overwhelmed IT department and unsatisfied employees. With all issues you have to deal with, you simply don’t have time to focus on core things, business goals, and growth. An outsourcing partner can be a valuable, long-term partner. A partner that will provide you time that, currently, you don’t have. You need a professional outsourcing management strategy that can save you from internal and external fires and potential damage to your business’ very foundations.

How to get the ‘outsourcing benefits’ full potential?

Let be honest, outsourcing projects can fail. But, failure can be prevented. Success depends on both sides, and, in most cases,proper communication is the right recipe.

Steps for strong Outsourcing partnership

If you want to build a strong relationship with an outsourcing partner, you need to work on:

Clear requests

Techspeak and bizspeak are something that both sides need to avoid. Do not use terminology that the other party doesn’t understand. Speak as clearly and succinctly as you can, provide clear requests because that will lead to a product that you can use. There is no textbook that you can follow to 100% guarantee successful communication. Maintaining outsourcing relationships can be challenging andit relies on transparency, clear goals, and demands, delivered in a timely manner. When you choose your outsourcing partner, always pay attention to their strategy of delivering unique value outcomes. The Quantox approach also consists of the best practices for communication and well-established plans for request delivery.

Detailed project

For a proper outsourcing strategy, details are a must. Details will help you present your vision and goals in the most effective way, reducing the chances of miscommunication, mistakes, and subsequent corrections. Invest time and effort in explaining your project, what you want to get out of it, and what you want your customers to get. You have a totally new range of resources in front of you, but only a detailed project can fully use them.

Transparent communication

Achieving the right relationship is possible only with good communication. Do not hide crucial information, good or bad. Avoid long delays in actionable feedback, keep in touch with your partner and inform them regularly of the current status. Let them know how you feel and what your expectations are. Be transparent and expect transparency from the other side.

Approach to internal resources

Network discovery is a part of setting up a quality outsourcing partner process. It requires a careful approach to your internal resources. Engineers and the sales team will need information about servers, firewalls, antivirus software, and other technical parts that are used.

How can Quantox help you save your business?

Regardless of the industry, you operate in, our way of reaching the predefined goals is based on an open and transparent environment.This trust makes us easy to work with, while still providing you with an extremely professional team and a high-quality product.Through constant development and improvement, we have learned to listen and understand the clients’ needs. This helps us provide the service that will supply your business with the most perfect solutions. Tonnes of business ideas brought to life through brave and sometimes even crazy steps. None of Quantox’s over 160 finished projects would be possible without a team from 7 different countries that we rely on. All our expertise, experience, ideas, and unique strategies can be at your disposal and provide you with different perspectives. Perspectives that will set you free from feeling that your vision is not fully developed or that some opportunities were missed. You need a new strategy for a journey that, through trust and good communication, will lead your project to a functional reality. Let’s find out together how we can make it happen.

written by MLADEN PAIĆ

Object Calisthenics are basically programming exercises, formalized as a set of 9 rules.
By trying to follow these rules as much as possible, you will naturally change how you write code. Of course, it doesn’t mean you have to strictly follow all these rules, all the time.

Here are the 9 rules for writing a better code:

1. Only One Level Of Indentation Per Method
2. Don’t Use The ELSE Keyword
3. Wrap All Primitives And Strings
4. First Class Collections
5. One Dot Per Line
6. Don’t Abbreviate
7. Keep All Entities Small
8. No Classes With More Than Two Instance Variables
9. No Getters/Setters/Properties

#1: Only One Level of Indentation per Method

Having more than one indentation level is often considered bad for readability and maintainability, it's not easy to understand the code without executing step by step in your head, especially if there is a loop in another loop, or if there are multiple conditions nested.

By following this rule, code will be split into separate methods. The number of lines will not be reduced, but the readability will be improved significantly.

#2: Don't Use The ELSE Keyword

If else cases can get hard to read, and they don't really bring any value to the code.
An easy way to remove the else keyword is to implement an early return solution.

#3: Wrap All Primitives And Strings

To avoid Primitive Obsession, all the primitives should be encapsulated within objects. If the variable of your primitive type has a behavior, you MUST encapsulate it.
Objects like Money, or Hour for instance.

#4: First-Class Collections

The collection class should not contain any other member variables. If you have a collection of elements and you want to manipulate them, you should create a dedicated class.
Each collection gets wrapped in its own class, and all the behaviors for filtering applying rules are encapsulated inside of it.

#5: One Dot Per Line

Method calls should not be chained (this does not apply to Fluent Interfaces and Method Chaining Pattern, any other class should respect this rule). It's directly related to respecting the Law of Demeter. Objects should talk only to closest friends.

#6: Don't Abbreviate

If you keep writing the same name over and over again, that will probably lead to code duplication.
If the class/method name is too long, it probably means that it has more than one responsibility, violating SRP. Naming is a big thing and can improve your code a lot. Abbreviations can lead to confusion because not everybody will understand what abbreviation means, so the trade-off is not worth it.

#7: Keep All Entities Small

“No class over 50 lines and no package over 10 files.”
The idea behind this rule is that long files are harder to read, harder to understand, and harder to maintain.
This is obviously very hard to apply (not even applicable to some languages like PHP, but it can be adapted), but IMO classes/methods should be somewhat short and this rule should be applied to some concern, but respecting these exact numbers (50 lines, 10 lines) is not crucial. As long as your classes are not more than 100-200 lines (especially in languages like PHP), it's not that big of a deal.

#8: No Classes With More Than Two Instance Variables

This rule relies on RULE 3 (Wrap All Primitive and Strings), and its benefits are high cohesion, and better encapsulation.
The main idea is to distinguish two kinds of classes, those that maintain the state of a single instance variable, and those that coordinate two separate variables. Two is an arbitrary choice that forces you to decouple your classes a lot.
IMO this doesn't have to be exactly two instance variables but should be kept to a low number and it can be applied like in the following example:

#9: No Getters/Setters/Properties

As long as you don't use the result of the accessor to make the decision outside of the object it should be okay. Any decisions made upon the state of the object should be done inside of the object itself. That's why getters and setters are bad, they violate Open/Closed Principle directly.

In the end, some rules are very easy to follow and they will improve your coding a lot, other ones are not the easiest ones to pull off. It's up to you to decide when and which one you want to implement and practice them in your spare time.

One Rule For Better IT Solutions- Quantox!

Quantox programmers and developers are a team and as such they've adopted coding practices which makes the code understandable for every team member. By having a clean code we can all participate in creating a better, stronger and safer applications for our clients. Here, a good organisation is the key, and we start at how we write your code. Let's Talk!

Being an entrepreneur and starting a business story of your own, always carries a lot of courage but also a lot of risks. You work every day, try your best to prove yourself, and be recognizable on the market.

When you achieve a certain success and that success, at some point, leads you to some major and crucial changes. Anyone who has participated in a process of building a brand knows how long-lasting and well-thought-out it is. That is why any major change in it leads to serious decision weighing. Reason - you’re getting into rebranding. There are many questions. How to name the company? Is it better to give some symbolic, hidden meaning? Will the market understand our new message? Time will tell if you made the right decision.  

The time showed us that, after many consultations and suggestions of the whole team, we did the right thing by choosing the path called Quantox Technology. Word Quantox as itself has no specific meaning. For us, on the other hand, it means a lot. It is a symbol of an idea created 15 years ago and which has been successfully implemented and continued to grow. A word that has weight today, that carries one brand and that is recognizable to the wider IT community.

For us, Quantox means responsibility. Responsibility for each accepted project, no matter how challenging. From the idea, through strategy to the presentation of the finished product and its future maintenance. Responsibility for meeting deadlines, respecting everyone’s time and obligations. Responsibility for the normal functioning of all our 10 offices, especially during a pandemic.

‍Quantox represents stability. We are thinking of 300 families. Kovid, various changes in the law, did not shake us. There was no withdrawal or radical moves. On the contrary. We kept the team, we kept the job. We also opened the jubilee  10th office. We came out as winners and that is the success of the company itself and all of us who are part of it.

‍Quantox is a synonym of progress for young people. We are proud of our professional development program. Great attention is paid to creating the whole process of practice, choosing the right mentor for each individual candidate, and also measuring the final results. The success of interns and their further employment is really on a high level.  This program, among other things, helped us to enrich our team with extremely high-quality people.

‍Quantox is a domestic brand. It originated in Serbia. We live, grow and prosper in Serbia. Yes, we have stepped into new markets, but we are pleased to introduce all our international colleagues to Serbian customs. Our people selflessly and openly share their knowledge and experience.

That is why there are no boundaries for us. We are one team, we are a Serbian brand and wherever we do business, everyone knows where we come from.

Besides programming, there is an opportunity for developers to join internship programs as mentors. It is a special challenge, but also a pleasure when you successfully transfer the acquired knowledge to younger colleagues. A responsible but also demanding approach is necessary, so here is some good advice that you can apply during the program.

‍Get to know your mentee When you take on the role of mentor, one of the important tasks is to get to know the person you are mentoring. This will help you to understand the obstacles that the mentee encounters and thus finding an adequate solution will be easier. From my personal experience, during the internship program, really positive reactions occur when, as a mentor, you show interest in the mentee's hobbies and if your work plan is in the line with his interests, the results are even better. When a candidate works according to such a plan, he is additionally motivated, goes a step further, and will, very likely, dare to step out of the comfort zone.

‍Communication is the keyMentoring brings responsibility. You need to be there for candidates. Of course, we are not talking about the obligation to answer the questions immediately, especially when other projects are active, but you should not go to the other side and not answer for hours. It is necessary to harmonize communication with the mentee, to respond to all doubts in an adequate time, and encourage candidates to discuss and express their opinions and potential task solutions. Very often candidates are reluctant to ask questions because they feel they are stealing your time and don’t want to bother, they think those questions are too basic. In that case, you have to step up, encourage them and make it perfectly clear that you are there for them. This prevents the creation of any potential communication barriers. You have to be able to listen, let the candidate express his idea, and give your own if you have one. These steps show that you are interested in your interns, in their work and thus make a significant contribution to strengthening their self-confidence.

‍Plan and goals All these steps that I am talking about are some of the ways of motivation and encouragement. However, you have to keep in mind the main reason for mentoring - interns came to learn and progress, and therefore it is necessary to set work goals and a plan according to which those goals will be achieved. It is a good idea to start with smaller tasks, which can be quickly realized. In that way, the mentee has the impression that he is progressing and there will be fewer chances for them to be demotivated and give up. It is necessary to go gradually, in smaller steps, which will eventually lead to the realization of more serious goals and challenges. Don’t make plans that take 3 or 4 months to complete, because these are people who are often without any previous work experience and who can really drop down if big tasks are put in front of them. One of the suggestions could be to give a candidate a chance to break one larger task into smaller ones, for him to get used to such a working system. This can be followed by some of your personal examples where you got to the solution by dissolving a big goal into several smaller ones and working on them step by step. So, at the beginning of the internship program, stick to tasks that can be solved in a couple of hours, and later you can set bigger challenges.

‍Checkup It is recommended to take your time for monitoring the mentee’s work and progress. To be more specific - use spontaneous conversations with your candidate and find out how far he has gone and whether he needs any help. Also, an official meeting once a week where you will together check all tasks and problems from past days will benefit both sides. Keep a record of your conversations, notes on problems encountered and solutions agreed. These records will help you later to see if the mentee has followed your recommendations or he found other solutions.

‍Constructive feedbackWhen you are a mentor, your opinion of someone’s work has a lot of significance. That is why it must be honest, and provided promptly. This means that you have to react immediately if you notice any mistake. Giving feedback can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it is necessary if you want a candidate to progress. If your opinion has a negative connotation, make a plan on how you will say it as well as mandatory steps on how to resolve the problem and prevent further possible mistakes in the future. By doing so, you make it known that you are aware that a problem exists and that you want to work together to solve it.  If you show some examples of solving mistakes and misjudgments, you have also contributed to the candidate not giving up. Of course, there is more than just negative feedback. Highlight, praise a good idea, solution, or significant effort to achieve the goal. What is by no means allowed - not providing an opinion and not giving any feedback to the candidate.

‍Mentor student Mentoring can be challenging, sometimes it can take you more time than you planned and require a lot of patience. However, it awards you significant progress. A good mentor never stops being a student. Don’t be surprised if, at the end of the internship program, it comes out that you are the one who learned a lot, maybe more than the candidate themselves. TOMISLAV NIKOLIĆ

For many years, we have been interested in the development potential of local communities that lack the opportunity for growth. We want to create those opportunities by providing support for the local Startup scene in Ćuprija.  Today, fortunately, we can witness numerous examples of fantastic Startup stories that have been realised and set off on the path of further success. However, the reality is a little bit different. Many people have great business ideas but not enough investment to go a step further in development and ‘launch’ their product or service. Many questions arise here - how to start, what are the necessary steps?Quantox Technology has decided to help implement these steps. Providing all the necessary technical support, we want to give that much needed `push` for a maximum of 10 Startups registered in Ćuprija. With an investment of up to 50.000 euros, which will be reflected in technical support and consulting, we want to help business stories that arise far from large IT centers.All Startups registered on the territory of Ćuprija will have the opportunity to apply and Quantox will, as a technical partner, support the growth and development of the local community.All information, as well as application forms, you can get via mail startup@quantox.com Let’s start up together!